2020 Alumni Achievement Award

Bill O’Connell ’70
Bill O’Connell ’70 spent his life in the service of others. A member of the board of directors for the Autistic Treatment Center of Dallas and Heartlight Ministries in Hallsville, Texas, he also made many mission trips over the years to Uganda, the Ukraine, Mexico and New York City as part of the HERO Makers Organization – a group dedicated to serving children at risk and the people who care for them.

The St. Cloud Cathedral High School graduate, who died in 2018, also found time for his collegiate alma mater – serving on the Saint John’s University Board of Regents. He also led the grassroots effort to start the Thomas J. Murray Accounting Endowment Fund.

After leaving Saint John’s, O’Connell worked as a CPA with Deloitte until his retirement in 2009, though he returned periodically in the years after to “stay active.” The man remembered as generous and outgoing by family and friends was an avid follower of the Johnnies and the Vikings and took great joy in calling BINGO.

Steve Lepinski ’70
Steve Lepinski ’70 has spent his life trying to better the lives of children, assuring the college students of tomorrow remain mentally healthy and able to thrive today.

Lepinski served as executive director of Storefront/Youth Action from 1974-87, and as CEO of the Washburn Center for Children from 1987-2017. For the past two years, he has run Steve Lepinski Consulting.

He recently led a capital campaign that raised $27 million to build a new children’s mental health center and create a child clinical training institute, and he has been active on numerous committees and task forces dedicated to children’s mental health issues at the local and state level.

He has received numerous awards for his efforts, including recently the Visionary Leader Award from the National Council for Behavior Health (February 2017), the Outstanding Service Award from the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (November 2016), the Heroes for Children Award from the Children’s Law Center of Minnesota (March 2015) and the Transformational Leadership Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (June 2012).

Marcus Ahmed ’70
Marcus Ahmed ’70 lived his life dedicated to the purpose of educating and impacting others.

As a student at Saint John’s, Ahmed – who died in 2019 – served as chairman of the Organization for Afro-Associated Students. At a time when only 25 black students attended SJU, the club played a key role in educating fellow students on the unique experiences they faced. His leadership helped lay the foundation for future students of diverse backgrounds to thrive in Collegeville.

Upon graduating, he returned to his old high school – Halles Franciscan on the South Side of Chicago – to teach, again impacting the lives of many students. He went on to work at several other schools, including serving as principal at Whistler Elementary School from 1984-96.

He received his Master’s of Education Degree in Educational Administration from Loyola University in 1976, and went on to receive his doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision. Transitioning to higher education, he taught at Southern Illinois University, then at Governors State University in University Park, Illinois, where he served as English chair.

Eduardo Colon ’75
Dr. Eduardo Colon ’75 frequently speaks on mental health issues, and his words carry great weight with his peers in the field in the Twin Cities metro area and beyond.

In early 2016, he was named chief of the HCMC/Hennepin Health System Department of Psychiatry. The department’s mission is to provide “a full spectrum of services for those with major behavioral and emotional difficulties, especially the serious and persistently mentally ill population in the metro and beyond.”

Colon, who started at HCMC as an intern in 1979, had served as vice chair of the department since 1998. He is also a professor in the Department of Psyciatry at the University of Minnesota, and is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the Minnesota Psychiatric Association, the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and the American College of Psychiatry.

In addition, he is a board member with Humans of Minneapolis, an organization devoted to connecting “hearts and minds through storytelling to encourage empathy and build community,” and a volunteer member of the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Disparities Action Council.

Tim Kosiek ’80 
Tim Kosiek ’80 has had a successful career in accounting and has made a tremendous impact in his community, particularly with Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis.

He began his accounting career with an international firm where he spent 21 years and went on to serve as the chief financial officer, vice chairman and president of a mid-sized financial services company. In 2009 he joined Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP as a partner. He currently serves as the firm’s National Leader for the Depository and Lending Practice.

In 2007 Kosiek served as Director of Business Operations for Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis during its first year of operation and went on to serve on the board for nine years, including three years as board chair. He received the MNPCA’s Public Service Award in 2016 and has been an advisory board member for the Marquette University Commercial Banking Program.

Kosiek recently rejoined Cristo Rey as its volunteer Chief Operations Officer, a position that is expected to become permanent upon his planned retirement from the accounting profession in 2021.

Bennett Morgan ’85
Bennett Morgan ’85 has earned his reputation as a leader in the world of business. In the 29 years he spent with Polaris Industries – including serving as president from 2005-16 – he helped grow the company into a leader in the powersports industry.

In 2009, Morgan was named Executive of the Year by Powersports Business magazine, and the publication named him one of its Industry Leaders in 2005. Prior to serving as president, Morgan – who first joined Polaris in 1987 – was vice president and general manager of the company’s ATV division from 2001-05 and general manager of the parts, garments and accessories division from 1997-2001.

He retired as president in 2016, but still serves as the lead director of General Holdings, Inc. and is a board member of the Minnesota Wild Foundation and the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management Board of Overseers. He is also a member of the Saint John’s University Board of Trustees.

After graduating from SJU, Morgan earned his master’s degree in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 1987 with an emphasis in marketing.

Mike Magnuson ’90
Mike Magnuson ’90 was awfully good as an athlete at Saint John’s. As a coach passing along his knowledge to the next generations of players, he’s proving to be even better.

Magnuson was a three-year starter on the offensive line for the SJU football team, earned All-MIAC honors and was part of two NCAA Division III playoff teams. He went on to coach the offensive line at Cretin-Derham Hall High School from 2010-15, and has been an assistant coach at Saint John’s the past five seasons.

During his tenure on the staff at SJU, Johnnies offensive linemen have earned All-MIAC first or second-team honors 12 times. Offensive tackle Ben Bartch was named conference lineman of the year last season and is now a top NFL prospect.

After graduation from SJU, Magnuson was a longtime employee of Piper Jaffray and US Bank. In 2003 he started his own financial service firm and sold it in 2010. Today, he and his family own Tommy’s Chicago Pizzeria in Mendota Heights, where he has been an active member of the community’s athletic association.

He and his wife Kate have four kids: Michael 21, Daniel 19, Patrick 17 and Molly 13. Michael was a high school hockey standout who is now a member of the hockey team at SJU.

Boz Bostrom ’95
Boz Bostrom ’95 has been a faculty member since 2004 in the accounting and finance department at CSB/SJU and was recently promoted to professor. His research focus has come in the area of ethical leadership, a topic on which he speaks nationally. It’s a focus that translated well to the subject he chose for his first book – his former football coach John Gagliardi.

Bostrom’s book, “A Legacy Unrivaled: The Story of John Gagliardi,” was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2016.

Bostrom earned his master’s degree in business taxation from the University of Minnesota and spent nine years working for Big Four accounting firms.

On campus, he partners extensively with admissions, athletics, and alumni relations and has served as chair of the Academic Planning and Budgeting Committee. He also leads his department’s efforts in finding internships and jobs for students.

In his free time, he remains an avid supporter of athletics at SJU and the College of Saint Benedict, attending many events and engaging alumni on social media.

Matt Logelin ’00
Matt Logelin ’00 faced personal tragedy, but he turned his experience into a source of inspiration for others.

His wife Liz died after suffering a pulmonary embolism in 2008, just one day after giving birth to the couple’s first child seven weeks prematurely.

Logelin made the difficult adjustment to life as a single parent, and began blogging about his experiences. That blog – “Matt, Liz and Madeline: Life and Death, All in a 27-Hour Period” – drew wide attention and led to his appearance on programs like “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

He went on to write the tender and inspirational book “Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Lost Love,” which spent seven weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list and has been translated into nine languages. Sony Pictures has adapted the book into a movie called Fatherhood, which stars Kevin Hart and Alfre Woodard and is scheduled to arrive in theaters June 18th, 2021.

Logelin’s efforts have gone beyond writing. In 2009, he established the Liz Logelin Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has provided financial grants, resources and support to over 400 families with children who have lost a parent.

John Saunders ’00
John Saunders ’00 is often called upon to offer his advice, and when he does businesses and other licensed professionals listen. As an attorney with Avisen Legal in Minneapolis, he advises clients on real estate, succession planning and medical practice transitions as well as on other general corporate matters.

His expertise in the field of business and real estate law is highly regarded, and has earned the respect of his peers. That is evidenced by the fact that he has served as Chair of the Hennepin County Bar Association’s Real Property Section, as well as serving on the Minnesota Retailers Association board of directors from 2013-15 and being a founding member of the Minnesota Dental Entrepreneurs.

In his spare time, he is a nine-time Birkie finisher, a founder of the Hiawatha Skiklubb, a youth ski club, a coach for Southeast Minneapolis Soccer Club and a hobbyist woodturner as well.